


Preserved in Translation

by Ononymous



Series: Christmas 2020 Stories and Requests [2]
Category: Deltarune (Video Game), Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Christmas, Gen, Post-Deltarune, Post-Deltarune Chapter One
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-26
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:14:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28343730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ononymous/pseuds/Ononymous
Summary: The problem with sending gifts to another land is the cultural context can leave it wildly different to how you perceive it. And yet in spite of this, the positive sentiment can win out.
Series: Christmas 2020 Stories and Requests [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2074179
Kudos: 14





	Preserved in Translation

You slip slightly in the heavy snow outside the school. Nobody has felt the need to clear it away, with students not yet returning for another week and a half or so. The pink skies of dawn give the building an air of majesty it hasn't really earned from your actual experiences with it. You take out your Mom's key from your pocket and unlock the door. The cold means you struggle slightly with opening it enough to get inside.

You turn on the lights in the corridor. It's colder than you're used to, and the corridors were never particularly warm. The boiler is run just long enough to keep pipes from freezing. You're tempted to check if Miss Alphys left her computer on, to see what else she has on there apart from superheroes. When you approach your classroom however, the door is locked. You don't know which of these other keys open it. You couldn't be bothered wasting time on it.

You had spent the time realising which key was for the storage room, but to your surprise, it wasn't locked. You are tempted to walk in and close the door behind you, but you have other places to be today. You place a parcel, wrapped in clippings of clashing colours of wrapping paper, at the edge of the light spilling in from the corridor. Taking a moment to try and discern anything in the shadows beyond, you close the door and head for the exit. As you reach it, you think you hear a whistling noise, like something has suddenly started falling.

You hope it's worth it.

* * *

The throne in the castle had been built for a far heftier person than its current owner. When he had deigned to sit upon it, it had admirably supported him. But he was often elsewhere in the castle or the wider Dark World, so not much abuse had been expected. Now, despite his successor's much smaller frame, the Throne was approximately twenty two hours from collapse. Because right now the rightful ruler was seeing how many guards could sit in it at once during a good old came of _Coup d'Etat_.

"Okay!" said Lancer. "Now the troops who refused to obey my orders to arrest the revolting peasants have overwhelmed the loyal castle garrison. Neat! Better hope the counter-revolutionary 'loyal' general gets here soon to restore order and keep me tucked away in the basement for my own safety while he issues orders to crush the rebellion. Ah, there you are! Get on the troop pile, a good general leads from the front!"

"Ahemst."

Lancer swivelled around at the cough. "What's this? An ambitious foreign attack while my authority is questioned? Oh man, that's gonna be tough to deal with."

"Mine leige!" protested his Grace the Duke Rouxls Kaard, bending the knee to maximise his submission. "Thou knowest I'd never risketh mine station in an actst of perfidieth treason. I might lose!"

Lancer stuck out his tongue. Both of them. "Well that's what makes it fun! C'mon, there's a Duke-shaped hole in the troop pile, I think-"

"Majesty," interjected Rouxl, "thou hast a visitor. And methinks he seeks notst your being deposedeth."

"Really? That's a shame, I could've deployed the thrasher. Ah well, let him in. Take five, guys."

The throne room was full of the sound of guards falling off each other and onto the floor, or each other again, as the demolition of the troop pile was anything but organised. Lancer paid it no mind as Rouxls returned with the emerald-clad visitor.

"Um, hello Lanc-"

"Prince!" Lancer raced up to the newcomer and plunged his finger under the brim of his had, booping the darkened snoot as a gesture of welcome. The boopee involuntarily giggled.

"Hello Lancer," Ralsei tried again, "I see you're giving the guards important work to do."

"Oh that." He waved a dismissive hand. "Yeah, saving me from boredom is super important."

"I see... Anyway, I wanted to tell you something really interesting just happened. I was busy mopping the town square of my home, and I heard a strange thumping noise. Like when the Lightners fell down."

"Lightners?!" Lancer stood on his tiptoes. "I hope it was Susie. I miss her."

"Me too. So I wandered into the very edges of the void of darkness to see what was there, and while I thought it would be a lovely place for a picnic, I found it!"

"Found what?"

"It's outside the castle, I carried it here, do you want to come and see-"

"No need, Ralsei." He pointed at His Grace. "Hey Lesser Dad, would you do the honours?"

"Whomst, I? Well, of course!"

He swept from the hall with all the haughty airs that had protected him in his position. Ralsei and Lancer were on their fifth game of snap by the time he returned, carrying something large and imposing, gasping for breath with liberal "eth"s applied to them. Putting it down in the middle of the room, the court got a look at a large ornate chest, each wooden piece painted a different colour and pattern. A familiar emblem of wings over three triangles was stamped into the lock.

"Is Susie inside that?" asked Lancer.

"Um, I don't think so," said Ralsei, "I dropped it near the scarlet woods and I didn't hear cursing. I think it's from Kris, though!"

"Really? Why?"

"This was next to it." Ralsei pulled out a piece of parchment with ornate calligraphy. It took Lancer a while to decypher it, but eventually concluded it read "To Ralsei, From Kris".

"So what is it?"

"I think it's something to do with the Fountain! Kris must have discovered something, but they couldn't tell us right now."

Lancer pouted. "Why the heck not?"

"...they had someone important to meet today." Ralsei shook his head. "Anyway, I couldn't find a key. Could your royal locksmith help me out?"

"Of course not!" Lancer puffed up his chest. "A matter as serious as this requires the personal intervention of the king himself."

"Really? Great!" Ralsei smiled. "So how will you open-"

He found himself answered when Lancer retrieved his bike from where it was propped up on the wall, activated the rocket boosters and smashed the lock with it. In a matter of seconds both the lock and the bike lay in unrecognisable pieces on the floor, and Rouxls took the rare initiative to open the chest. Ralsei then leaned inside, and pulled out a bundle of brown paper. He unwrapped it to reveal an ornate book with the emblem on its front, along with curious circular glyphs of bright colours.

"The ' _Libri de Coctione a Delectamentum Prandium_ '... Lancer, I think this is a spellbook!"

"Woah..." Lancer looked awed. "Can you go to 'F' and look up how you spell-"

"Um, I mean magic spells." He flicked through the heavy pages full of diagrams and incantations. "Maybe these will affect the Fountain. If I cast the right one maybe we can restore balance and free the Darkners!"

"And visit Susie and Kris? Rippin'! Go do it now!"

"Now?" Ralsei's hat sank over his eyes. "I'd need to understand what each spell does..."

"Or you might get lucky and we have something new to do in ten minutes!" Lancer clapped his hands. "It is the King's wish for the court to reconvene at the Fountain! Your Grace, if you could carry the chest..."

Forty-five minutes later, guards were standing to attention at the Fountain. Ralsei sat on the ground, studying the book intently. Rouxls Kaard deliberately lost his seventeenth hand of poker to Lancer.

"...okay," said Ralsei, "I'm ready to try."

"Huh? Alright, whatever. Deal me seven cards."

Placing the book on the ground, Ralsei got to his feet and cast his arms wide, white fur illuminated by the pillar of light he stood before. He took a final deep breath, let the power of missing friends shine within him, and began.

" _Ova, Portam, Lac lactis! Et misce cum flatted volubilem! Quodcumque gradibus trecentis! Saccharo, butyrum scotici, cinnamomum! Misce et effundam frigus! Servite cum crepito!_ "

The ground beneath them shook. The pillar of light began to flux, spitting out sparks of all the colours of the rainbow. The two aces Rouxls was trying to sneak into the game was blown away by the wind. Some of the guards fled, fearing the castle would collapse. The Fountain finally settled on a firey orange, before growing so bright, a howling wind disturbing even the prisoners in the dungeons. Just before Ralsei could begin to believe he'd let everyone down, again, all the chaos stopped.

"Is anything different?" Lancer peeked out from behind his most stalwart guard.

Ralsei opened his eyes. The Fountain looked exactly as it had before he cast the spell. "Um, I don't think it worked. Sorry..."

"Aw, nuts!" Lancer kicked his guard's shin. "We wasted fifty minutes up here and- Hey, what's that?"

Everyone looked at where he pointed. In front of the book, a round dish now rested on the ground, filled with a golden brown susbtance, and a plume of white atop it. Steam rose from it, and the air was quickly filled with sniffs as the scent wafted into the sky.

"It's... butterscotch," said Ralsei, "and cinnamon, too!"

"Thou meanst," dared Rouxls, "thous conjuredeth... pie?!"

"Um, I think so..."

"That's so cool!" cheered Lancer. "A magic cookbook! I bet there's cakes and pastries and all sorts of stuff that's terrible for my health in there. Do it again!"

"...I don't want to scare anyone, Lancer. Maybe I should do it in the kitchens?"

"Great idea. Then you can add sugar. Guards, seize that pie!" The shin-kicked guard obeyed. "Party in the throne room, Ralsei's treat!"

The royal court cheered, lifting their generous ruler and carrying him back into the castle, the pie offering the vanguard. As Ralsei picked up the book, the page flicked over to show a shell with a curious spiral pattern. It looked delicious.

"...thanks, Kris..."

* * *

You continue to hug your mother, stronger than before. A fire has been lit inside you. You know it was worth it.

**Author's Note:**

> Original suggestion: Ralsei opens a christmas gift
> 
> Let me know what you think, and thanks for reading!


End file.
